Clinical outcomes of simultaneous bilateral total knee arthroplasty.: A tertiary-center experience

OBJECTIVES: To characterize patients who underwent simultaneous bilateral total knee arthroplasty (simBTKA) and study the outcomes of surgery along with complication rates. METHODS: This is a retrospective study carried out at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The study included patients who had undergone simultaneous bilateral total knee replacement from January 2010 until June 2021. RESULTS: The median age of our patients was 64 (Q1-Q3: 59-70) years, 76 (13.2%) males and 393 (83.8%) were females. Hypertension was the most common associated comorbidity (56.29%) and primary osteoarthritis was the most common indication of surgery (96.8%). The median duration of surgery was 155 (140-175) minutes and the median duration of hospital stay was 9 (8-11) days. A total of 17 (3.62%) patients needed revision of surgery in a median duration of 265 (112-529) days. The composite endpoint of complications, intensive care unit admission, and blood transfusion occurred in 132 (28.14%) patients. Hospital stay was longer in males (coefficient: 0.11 [0.02-0.19]; p=0.01) and in patients with cardiac (coefficient: 0.12 [0.02-0.21]; p=0.02), and renal diseases (coefficient: 0.23 (0.06-0.39); p=0.01). Cardiac disease was the only factor associated with the composite outcome (odds ratio: 2.25 [1.19-4.24]; p=0.01). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest simBTKA is a safe procedure with a low complication rate. However, male patients and those with cardiac and renal diseases are at increased risk of post-operative complications and prolonged hospital stay.